Does Powerlifting Build Muscle?

Here’s What Science and Experience Say

Powerlifting is often seen as a sport focused solely on strength — mastering a one rep max the squat, bench press, and deadlift to move as much weight as possible. But a common question among lifters and fitness enthusiasts is: Does powerlifting build muscle? Many people seem to think as though all powerlifting is is eating as much as possible, and hitting crazy one rep maxes.

The short answer: Yes, powerlifting does build muscle. But how it compares to traditional bodybuilding or hypertrophy training is worth exploring in more depth.

In this article, our team at Generation Iron is going to break down:

• What powerlifting is
• How muscle growth happens
• How powerlifting promotes hypertrophy
• Key differences between powerlifting and bodybuilding
• Tips to optimize muscle growth through powerlifting

Let’s dive in.

What Is Powerlifting?

Powerlifting is a strength sport that revolves around three main lifts:

1. Squat
2. Bench Press
3. Deadlift

The goal is to lift the maximum possible weight for one rep in each lift. Powerlifting training focuses heavily on low-rep, high-weight schemes — usually between 1–5 reps per set — with long rest periods to allow for full recovery.

How Muscle Growth (Hypertrophy) Works

Now obviously things like diet and making sure to hit your ideal caloric intake, monitoring things like protein consumption are important, but muscle hypertrophy is triggered by something else. Muscle hypertrophy is the increase in the size of muscle cells, primarily triggered by three factors:

• Mechanical tension: Generated when muscles contract against heavy resistance.
• Muscle damage: Small tears in muscle fibers from resistance training.
• Metabolic stress: The “burn” you feel from higher-rep training and short rest.

Bodybuilding routines typically emphasize moderate weight, higher reps (8–15), and shorter rest times, optimizing metabolic stress and muscle damage. But mechanical tension — powerlifting’s bread and butter — is also a major contributor to hypertrophy.

Does Powerlifting Build Muscle?

To answer the age old question, yes, powerlifting absolutely builds muscle, particularly in the glutes, hamstrings, quads, back, chest, and triceps — the primary movers in the big three lifts.

Here’s how powerlifting promotes muscle growth:

1. High Mechanical Tension

Lifting heavy weights places immense stress on your muscles, stimulating growth even with lower rep ranges.

2. Progressive Overload

Powerlifters are laser-focused on increasing strength over time, which leads to continual adaptation and muscle development.

3. Compound Movements

Squats, bench presses, and deadlifts engage multiple muscle groups at once, encouraging overall muscle growth and efficiency.

4. Volume Work & Accessories

While the core lifts are heavy and low-rep, powerlifters also include accessory exercises like Romanian deadlifts, lunges, rows, and dips. These often use higher rep ranges and are designed to address weak points and build muscle mass.

Powerlifting vs. Bodybuilding: Which Builds More Muscle?

The main difference lies in training focus and muscle aesthetics:

• Powerlifters prioritize strength and neural adaptations, often training at 80–95% of their one-rep max (1RM).
• Bodybuilders focus on muscle size, symmetry, and definition, typically training at 60–80% of their 1RM for higher reps and more volume.

So Which Builds More Muscle?

• Bodybuilding is generally more efficient for maximizing hypertrophy, especially in underdeveloped or aesthetic-focused areas like biceps, calves, and shoulders.
• Powerlifting, while not purely hypertrophy-focused, still builds dense, functional muscle, particularly in the posterior chain and pressing muscles.

Can You Combine Powerlifting and Bodybuilding?

Absolutely — and it even has a name: Powerbuilding. Mike O’Hearn is a large advocate of this training style.

Powerbuilding programs combine heavy compound lifts for strength with volume-based accessory work for size. This hybrid approach allows athletes to get stronger and build muscle simultaneously, often delivering the best of both worlds.

Tips to Maximize Muscle Growth With Powerlifting

If your goal is to build muscle through powerlifting, here’s how to do it right:

1. Include Accessory Movements

Add exercises that target weak points or smaller muscle groups. Use 6–15 rep ranges for these.

2. Manage Volume and Intensity

Periodize your training to cycle between strength blocks and hypertrophy blocks. Don’t stay at low reps forever.

3. Track Progressive Overload

Keep logs of your lifts and aim to add weight, reps, or sets over time.

4. Focus on Nutrition

Muscle growth requires a caloric surplus, adequate protein intake (1.6–2.2g/kg of bodyweight), and sufficient recovery. Finding a good supplement for protein intake is great as well. Something such as Nutricost Whey is a great option that has good macros and does not break the bank.

5. Don’t Skip Rest and Sleep

Recovery is just as important as training. Muscle grows when you’re resting, not just when you’re lifting.

Final Thoughts

So, does powerlifting build muscle? Yes — and quite effectively. While it may not match the muscle-specific volume of bodybuilding, it creates dense, functional muscle and a powerful physique.

If you’re new to lifting and want to gain size and strength, starting with a powerlifting base (or a powerbuilding plan) can be a smart move. You’ll build a solid foundation, improve your performance, and still grow impressive muscle mass.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.